Is Brannan Going to Do Anything About Illegal Conversions?
A meeting was held and a picture was taken the paper. The photo was sent to Paula Katinas and the article was created. DONE – the pols checked that problem off their list for the next three months.
Are these pols really going to do something about illegal conversions NOW?
Gournardes and Brannan met with leaders of government organizations that haven’t been doing their job. Do the pols think these organizations are going to start doing their job today because of this meeting? By the way, this excludes the FDNY, who do their job well, consistently.
Brannan has been in office for a year and half and the illegal conversions have continued. In April, the local politicians wrote a letter and nothing came from that, except it silented the home owners in Dyker Heights for a few months.
If you notice my tone, it’s because last September, Brannan also promised action on the illegal conversion and then nothing happened. See here Councilman Brannan seems occupied with out-of-district things, rather than problems in our district like this (Treyger should be doing this as he is the Coney Island Councilman).
In May, Senator Gounardes wrote a bill for illegal conversions. Yet, he was unable to carry the bill. Strangely, I don’t see an Assembly sponsor for the bill.
In February, Gounardes spoke about a property tax bill which excluded NYC. The bill would allow Andrew Cuomo to get a tax break for his home. When I saw Gounardes speak so enthusiastically about this bill, I realized he forgot he represented Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. See video here. When I wrote to Gounardes, he told me he had a plan, but nothing came of it.
Brannan blamed the rise of illegal conversions on unaffordable housing. A few years ago, Eric Adams welcomed AirBnB into Brooklyn. Home owners realized they could rent an apartment for a few days or weekend and not have to deal with tenants. That created a demand on apartments and rents skyrocketed. Adams is a former police officer and didn’t have the vision to understand how his support of AirBnB would affect housing.
Predatory landlords continue to create illegal apartments because the fines aren’t enough to stop them.
Before I moved to Bay Ridge, I rented an apartment in Borough Park because it was cheaper. We were saving for a home. So if someone can’t afford an apartment, they can’t break the law and rent an illegal one just because they want to live in a certain area. Just like I can’t afford a mansion in Brooklyn, people have to live in places that they can afford.
There has to be a way for tenants to check the occupancy of a home in an online database before they rent it. NYC has the technology to do this.
Stay tuned and let’s see what gets done….if anything.
Hugs,
marlene
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